This is the “Fossil Friday” post #160.  Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website.  We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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For this week, we have something a little different.  ESCONI member Alan Keith sent us some photos of some fossil starfish he found on a field trip with the Austin Paleontological Society recently.  Here is the story Alan sent…

While on a field trip with the Austin Paleontological society, I found a few slabs of with scattered pieces of petrified wood in them, so I gathered several to take home to split open to look for leaves. I quickly lost interest in the leaves when I realized 1 of the pieces had starfish trace fossils. I went back to the Pennsylvanian era site in Brady, Texas a couple months later and found a slab about 3 feet in diameter with about 150 starfish. Here are 2 of the pieces with the last 1 actually having a few leaves among the starfish. 

A few more photos and a short discussion can be found in a post over on the Fossil Forum.

Thanks for sharing this interesting find, Alan!   It’s good to show something new.